The University of Hawaii is being extended an offer to join the Mountain West Conference, the Star-Advetiser [sic] has learned.

A 7 p.m. [HST] press conference has been called for Bachman Hall to make the announcement.

The MWC presidents met today to approve conditions under which the conference would accept UH, which is expected to join the Big West in all sports except football.

If true, this puts the WAC on the brink of going defunct; NCAA rules state that for a conference to receive an automatic postseason bid — or really be recognized by the NCAA in any way — it must have a group of five member schools that have been in the same conference for at least five years. With Boise State, Nevada, and Fresno State all headed to the Mountain West and now Hawaii joining them, the WAC would be down to the bare minimum of five tenured schools in 2012: Louisiana Tech, Idaho, New Mexico State, Utah State, and San Jose State. If even one of those schools leaves before 2017 (when brand new members Seattle, Texas State, and UT-San Antonio hit the five-year mark), the WAC will effectively cease to exist. That would be its own special brand of history, wouldn’t it?

I’ve seen speculation that this move is motivated by a belief on the MWC’s part that it makes it more relevant in the BCS AQ discussion, but methinks there’s a more primal motive in play here. Craig Thompson is finishing the job he started. At the time, I referred to the move as “like watching Mary’s Lemonade Stand attempt a hostile takeover of Jimmy’s Newspaper Route”, but this is more like watching something out of The Untouchables [some NSFW language, folks].

Makes you wonder what he’s got in mind for the Big East if TCU leaves.

The MWC has taken the best parts of the WAC. If Utah and BYU weren’t leaving, the top half of the conference would look pretty good against the top half of any other conference.

Bloviation for the Dawgnation

Quote Of The Day

“It brings back a great Bulldog running back in Thomas who has NFL playing experience and has had success as a college coach at multiple schools. He also inherits a position that has been built to an elite level by Bryan. And it gives Bryan the opportunity to return to coaching the position he played and the one where he cut his teeth serving as a graduate assistant under wide receiver coach John Eason here at UGA. It also provides him with a new experience as a passing game coordinator.” -- Mark Richt, AB-H, 2/16/15